Voter Refuses To Gamble On His Hall Of Fame Ballot

BOSTROM

December 16, 1990|by DON BOSTROM, The Morning Call

You are making a pilgrimage to baseball's mecca, the Hall of Fame, in the picture postcard village of Cooperstown, N.Y.

You pay homage to Babe Ruth. You marvel at the numbers put up by Ty Cobb. Wow, what a career Walter Johnson had. Did anyone do it with more class than Joltin' Joe DiMaggio? There's Willie, Mickey and the Duke over there. Hey, how did Oscar Gamble get in here?

No, Oscar isn't the janitor. Gamble could be immortalized in Cooperstown because thejourneyman outfielder appears on this year's Hall of Fame ballot. It's doubtful 75 percent of the eligible voters from the Baseball Writers of America will agree that Gamble belongs in the HOF lineup next to Stan Musial and Ted Williams. Gamble did sport a HOF Afro for most of his career. Too bad he didn't draw Samson-like strength from it.

Bob Bailor, Al Bumbry, John Lowenstein, Pat Zachry, Ellis Valentine and Geoff Zahn can also dream on, even though they too are eligible nominees.

To vote, you must have been a member of the BBWAA for 10 years. This is my first crack at this all-important task. What criteria do you use?

Item No. 4 in the Baseball Writers' Association of America 1991 Hall of Fame rules states -- Candidates shall be chosen on the basis of playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, their contribution to the team on which they played and to baseball in general.

Okay. On top of that I added these guidelines -- 1. Would I gag on my lunch if I saw this guy's plaque next to those of Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams or Sandy Koufax? 2. Was the man the dominant player at his position in his era? 3. Was he an MVP or Cy Young award winner? 4. Do I own a stack of his rookie baseball cards? (Only kidding).

I had the pleasure of seeing every nominee play hundreds of games. Here's the ballot I wound up sending in.

1. ROD CAREW. A lock. A pure hitter. Easiest pick by far. Carew, an 18-time All-Star in his 19-year career, collected 3,053 hits while compiling a lifetime average of .328 --astronomical in the modern era of flame-throwing relievers. Carew, a 7-time batting champion --four more crowns than Pete Rose captured, could hold his own on that Field of Dreams roster.

2. ROLLIE FINGERS -- Yes, his career record was below .500 (114-118), but he was the definitive stopper and helped revolutionize the way the game is played. `The Slammer' owns the all-time career saves record (341). He was a Cy Young and MVP winner and the backbone of those truly marvelous Oakland A's teams of the mid-70s.

3. GAYLORD PERRY -- As a tribute to Gaylord, I stuck my hands in Vaseline before grabbing the pen to mark his name on the ballot. Oops, almost wound up checking off Steve Rogers instead. Boy, did that pen dive at the last minute! Perry is a self-confessed cheater and there are those who would deny him a place in the Hall on the fuzzy integrity guidelines. Hey, anyone who could win 314 games toiling mainly for the putrid Indians and Padres -- where he won Cy Young awards, by the way -- gets my vote.

4. FERGUSON JENKINS -- What a craftsman! Imagine what it would have been like if Steve Carlton and Fergie (given away to the Cubs) had been in the same Philadelphia rotation during the 70s. This dart-thrower went 284-226 while striking out 3,1992 and walking only 996, an unheard of ratio!

5. JIM BUNNING -- The fates have been cruel to this U.S. Congressman from Kentucky. He missed by just four votes a few years back, has slid ever since. Bunning (224-184, 3.27 ERA) won 100 games and pitched a no-hitter in each league. He also was No. 2 on the all-time strikeout list, behind only Walter Johnson, with 2,855 when he retired. Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived, said Bunning was one of the toughest he ever faced. That's endorsement enough for me.

6. LUIS TIANT -- `El Tiante' is a personal all-time favorite. Anyone who has ever played Whiffleball at the family picnic has copied Tiant's herky-jerky, hesitation motion. Loo-ee went 21-9 with a dazzling 1.60 ERA with Cleveland once. Tiant never won a Cy Young, but his all-time numbers (229-172, 3.30 ERA) are better than those of Catfish Hunter (224-166, 3.27 ERA), an unchallenged HOF member. Tiant won more games, had more shutouts (49-42), complete games (187-181) and a comparable ERA despite hurling in Boston's tiny bandbox for 8 seasons. He won the ERA title twice and led the AL in shutouts three times.